Peel Regional Council Endorses Call for Provincial Response
to West Nile Virus

(Brampton) - Peel Regional Council today endorsed a request by the Council
of Ontario Medical Officers of Health that the provincial government work
with local boards of health to develop a co-ordinated province-wide response
to West Nile Virus. The request is in response to possible West Nile Virus
infections in birds or mosquitoes in Ontario between April and October 2001.

Peel Health is working with the area municipalities of Brampton, Caledon
and Mississauga and will be alerting citizens to the precautions they should
take to avoid mosquitoes. Council makes this recommendation to avoid an
undesirable patchwork of different local initiatives across Ontario.

"It is prudent for us to reduce our possible exposure to West Nile
Virus. While independent local efforts to this end are admirable, a truly
effective response can be undertaken only with a provincial co-ordinating
effort," says Dr. David McKeown, Medical Officer of Health for Peel
Region

The virus, which is passed to humans through mosquito bites, was responsible
for seven deaths in New York City in 1999 and two deaths in 2000. Last year,
West Nile virus was detected in birds in all but one county in New York
State and there is a possibility it will be detected this summer for the
first time in birds or mosquitoes in Ontario.

The virus is found in infected birds and is transmitted to humans through
a species of mosquito that bites both birds and humans. However, only when
large numbers of birds and mosquitoes become infected is there a risk of
mosquitoes transmitting the infection to humans.

In humans, West Nile Virus can cause mild to severe symptoms ranging from
flu-like illness with fever, headache, muscle aches and skin rash to more
severe symptoms such as neck stiffness, muscle weakness, disorientation
and coma. The disease is usually more severe in higher-risk people in the
population, such as the elderly.